Undergraduate Course: Modern Irish Literature: 1889-1955 (ENLI10437)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course explores key works from the Irish Literary Renaissance, otherwise known as the Irish Cultural Revival, or the Celtic Revival: an extraordinary period of literary endeavour during a time of intense cultural and political transformation. The texts on the course are key works of Irish literature, of literary modernism, and would also come to be hugely influential on post-colonial writing through the rest of the twentieth century. The dates of the course title span the year of W.B. Yeats's first poetry publication, to the debut of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. |
| Course description |
This course examines literature by Irish writers during a historical period in which Irish cultural nationalism gave rise to an Independence movement, a War of Independence, the partition of Ireland into two states, a civil war, the establishment of an Independent Irish state, and subsequent cultural unrest.
During this time, Irish literature flourished to an extraordinary extent. This course focuses on key works by writers such as W. B. Yeats, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. The course features poetry, plays and fiction. It explores the close relationship between literature and Irish national cultural identity, but also examines how literature critiqued nationalist political outlooks while condemning colonial rule by the British Empire.
A major context for literary modernism and emergent anti-Imperialist or post-colonial literary production: we will proceed, through close readings and contextual discussion, to consider how literary works mediate the changing cultural and historical contexts and pressures of modern Ireland.
Indicative reading list for 2025/26
Celticism, Romanticism, Nationalism and Modernity: Matthew Arnold and W. B. Yeats
The Heroic Ideal: W. B. Yeats and J. M. Synge
Joyce and the Anti-Heroic: Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Nationalism, Colonialism and Cosmopolitanism: James Joyce, Ulysses
Gender, Sex and the City: James Joyce, Ulysses
The Big House: Elizabeth Bowen, The Last September
Gender, Catholicism and Nationalism: Kate O'Brien, The Ante-Room
The Filthy Modern Tide: Late W. B. Yeats
An Irish Nowhere: Patrick Kavanagh, The Great Hunger / Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% coursework:
30% 2,000 word course essay
70% 3,000 word final essay |
| Feedback |
Written feedback will be provided on each assignment, and students are encouraged to meet with the course organiser either during office hours or at another pre-arranged time for verbal feedback both in advance of and following assignment submission. Feedback on the mid-semester essay will feed forward for the final essay. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of key texts of modern Irish literature
- Demonstrate understanding of the major critical debates produced by modern Irish literature
- Demonstrate understanding of the cultural contexts of modern Irish literature
- Undertake independent critical analysis of modern Irish literature
- Orally present the results of research undertaken individually and as part of a small group, respond judiciously to such research undertaken by others, and critically evaluate the importance of such material for an understanding of the chief themes of the course
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
This course will promote the following graduate attributes:
curiosity for learning that makes a positive difference
courage to expand and fulfil their potential
Students will be encouraged to think critically and with nuance about complex and challenging ideas, and to consider alternative perspectives through research and enquiry.
Students will develop their skills in close reading, in historical and cultural contextualisation, and in crafting and substantiating nuanced and coherent written arguments about literary and cultural texts. They will also gain more experience in verbally presenting and debating specialised material with their peers and other specialists.
Although working with guidance from the course leader, students will gain further experience of working in a self-motivated and independent fashion, and will be supported in seeking out further primary and secondary texts to develop their own areas of interest. |
| Keywords | Irish Literature,Modern Literature,Poetry,Novels,Drama |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alan Gillis
Tel: (0131 6)50 3050
Email: Alan.Gillis@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hope Hamilton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4167
Email: hope.hamilton@ed.ac.uk |
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